TITLE XV
EDUCATION

CHAPTER 188-E
REGIONAL CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE)

Section 188-E:5

    188-E:5 Program. –
I. The program in the regional career and technical education centers shall be broad enough to serve the reasonable business and industry needs of the area, and provide for a substantial career and technical offering in the region.
II. Career and technical education of consistent quality shall be equally available to students and across the state. Each career and technical education program pathway shall include embedded rigorous academic skills and technical core competencies aligned with national business and industry standards delivered through a relevant sequence of courses.
III. Each center shall make maximum utilization of cooperative arrangements with special education and vocational rehabilitation in providing career and technical education for disadvantaged and disabled persons. Opportunities for out-of-school youths, including "drop outs" and others, and adult education will be provided whenever possible.
IV. The regional career and technical education centers, as an integral part of each career and technical offering, may provide opportunities in leadership development through participation by students in appropriate corresponding and nationally recognized career and technical student organizations.
V. Regional career and technical education centers shall, on a space available basis, enroll any student requesting enrollment who has attended one year of high school regardless of the number of academic credits earned, except that the Manchester school district shall, on a space available basis, enroll and bear the associated costs for any Manchester school district student in grades 9-12 who resides in the city of Manchester and who requests enrollment in a regional career and technical education center within the district, provided that in either case:
(a) The student has successfully completed any courses required as a prerequisite for the career and technical education program selected; or
(b) The prerequisites have been waived by the regional career and technical education center director. Such a waiver shall not be unreasonably withheld.
VI. The receiving district shall be responsible for determining the student's qualifications for admission and space availability.
VII. (a) All career and technical education students shall be given access to career and technical education programs for the instructional time for those programs.
(b) Upon a joint application by a student's career and technical education center and his or her sending district, the commissioner may grant a waiver from the requirement of subparagraph (a) on a case-by-case basis. A student waiver may be granted on a case-by-case basis from the requirement of subparagraph (a) in accordance with approved procedure in the RCTEA.
VIII. Programs shall demonstrate alignment of curriculum to national technical core competencies to assess and demonstrate achievement through evidence documented by course and learning experiences using multiple measures, such as, but not limited to, examinations, quizzes, portfolios, performances, exhibitions, industry certifications, projects, and community service.
IX. An approved career and technical education program shall be designed to enable a student to meet industry standards applicable to the respective career field.
X. To the greatest extent possible, a career and technical education program offered at a center or region shall provide students the opportunity to take advantage of any applicable career pathways, including career pathways set forth in an articulation agreement with a postsecondary institution or in a collaborative agreement with publicly supported secondary and postsecondary educational institutions that form a dual enrollment career and technical education program.
XI. Beginning in September 2020, and each year thereafter, school districts shall, for entering high school freshman: assess student career interests; document school pathways to career readiness credentials; advise all entering high school students how to achieve a career ready credential upon graduation; and record on a student's transcript progress towards the credential. School districts shall report the following annually: the number of students who complete CTE; the number of dual enrollments, concurrent enrollments, extended learning opportunities, and work based learning enrollments; and the number of career ready credentials awarded.
XII. The director of career and technical education shall report to the advisory council on career and technical education by June 1, 2022 on the availability of programs in outdoor recreation and the potential for new programs to provide workforce training and appropriate credentialing in careers related to the outdoor recreation industry.
XIII. A student shall be awarded required subject credit toward district graduation by demonstrating proficiency in a regional career and technical education course or program that is embedded with content area competencies that meet or exceed the district subject and required course competencies. Sending school graduation competencies embedded in a career and technical education course or program used to earn the equivalent or to earn partial credit to satisfy the required graduation competencies shall align with the skills, knowledge, and work study practices as determined by the local school district and in accordance with the terms of the RCTEA. A student who demonstrates proficiency in the embedded CTE course or program competencies and who is determined to have met the content area academic standards required by the high school shall have such credits counted toward the required program area for a high school diploma.

Source. 1973, 567:1. 1990, 140:2, X. 1998, 333:1. 2007, 333:4. 2012, 221:3. 2015, 252:6. 2017, 156:107, eff. July 1, 2017; 210:1, eff. Sept. 8, 2017. 2019, 322:5, eff. Oct. 11, 2019. 2021, 210:2, Pt. V, Sec. 3, eff. Oct. 9, 2021. 2022, 272:3, 4, eff. July 1, 2022.